Oscillating hydraulic motor having compressible sealing means



May 5 1954 E. F. PAuLus 3,131,610

oscILLA'rINc HYDRAULIC Moros HAVING coMPRsssIBm: saALmc: MEANS A 7rox/vf Ys May 5, 1964 E. F. PAULUS 3,131,610

OSCILLATING HYDRAULIC MOTOR HAVING COMPRESSIBLE SEALING MEANS FiledMarch 28, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 57 2/\ ,2253 25 22.12/Z0 f f l 44 g2/ 2325 2 @df/2 46 4 6 Ff 51'. E

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INVENTOR. fa WMD f ,4m/Lus United States Patent O SCELLATENG HYDRAULECMGTOR HAVlNG CMPRESSEBLE SEALNG MEANS Edward F. Paulus, Benoit, Mich.,assigner, by mesne assignments, to Roto Actuator orporation, acorporation of Michigan Filed Mar. 28, 1957, Ser. No. 649,947

3 Claims. (Cl. 92-125) This invention relates generally to fluid motors,and, more particularly to a novel fluid actuated oscillating orreversing motor adapted to provide reciprocating rotary motion through aportion of a revolution.

It is the primary object of this invention to provide an oscillatingfluid motor capable of providing equal power in each direction of rotarymovement throughout a 280 degree arc of travel and which will be usefulfor many purposes or operations as, for example, lifting, dumping,tumbling, agitating, mixing and so forth.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an oscillating fluidmotor constructed and arranged to provide a minimum of friction, leakageand wear between the moving and stationary parts thereof, whereby, themotor is adapted to be powered by any suitable fluid as air, water orany suitable hydraulic oil.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide an oscillatinguid motor including a novel stator and vane or rotor which are eachprovided with a novel and improved seal which is precision compoundedand moulded to provide optimum characteristics of hardness, strength,wear resistance, fluid resistance and compression set.

It is another object of this invention to provide an oscillating fluidmotor including a novel and improved rotor shaft bearing and sealconstruction adapted to provide a minimum of fluids leakage along saidshaft.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an oscillatingHuid motor which is simple and compact in construction, economical ofmanufacture, eilicient in operation, and which can be made in any size.

Other objects, features and advantages of this invention will beapparent from the following detailed description and appended claims,reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of thespecification wherein like reference numerals designate correspondingparts of the several views.

In the drawings:

FIG. l is a perspective view of an illustrative embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational sectional view of the structure illustrated inFIG. l, taken along the line 2 2 thereof, and looking in the directionof the arrows;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view, partly in section, of thestructure illustrated in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an end elevational view of the structure illustrated in FIG.2, taken along the line 4 4 thereof, and looking in the direction of thearrows;

FIG. 5 is an elevational sectional view of the structure illustrated inFIG. 2, taken along the line 5 5 thereof, and looking in the directionof the arrows;

FIG. 6 is an elevational sectional view of the structure illustrated inFIG. 2, taken along the line 6 6 thereof, and looking in the directionof the arrows;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged broken side elevational View of a vane and statorseal employed in the invention;

FIG. 8 is an elevational sectional view of the vane and stator sealillustrated in FIG. 7, taken along the line 8 8 thereof, and looking inthe direction of the arrows;

FIG. 9 is a broken top plan View of the vane and stator seal illustratedin FIG. 7, taken in the direction of the arrow marked 9,

FIG. l0 is an end elevational view of the vane and dddllh Patented May5, 1964 stator seal illustrated in FIG. 7, taken in the direction of thearrow marked 10; and

FIG. 1l is an enlarged fragmentary View, partly in section, andidentical to FIG. 3, but showing the novel inner shaft seal in acompressed operative condition.

Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. l and 2,wherein is illustrated an oscillating fluid motor made in accordancewith the principles of the invention, the numeral lil indicates a hollowcylindrical body member which is enclosed at both ends by means of thehead members lll and 12. The body member It) is provided at each endthereof with an annular groove disposed along the inner perpiherythereof, as 13 and 14, in which is operatively mounted an annular sealas l5 and 16, respectively, and which is made from any suitable sealingmaterial. The head members lll and l2 are substantially rectangular incross section and are each provided on the inner face thereof with aninwardly extended integral annular boss, as 17 and 1S, respectively. Thebosses 17 and 1S are adapted to be seated in the grooves i3 and 14,respectively, in sealing Contact with the seals i5 and 16 and to enclosethe ends of the body member l0.

Ille head members li and l2 are xedly secured on the body member itl bythe four tie rods designated by the reference numeral i9. The tie rods19 are adapted to be evenly disposed around the body member it) with theends thereof being threaded and extended through the holes 2) in thehead members l1 and 12. The tie rods 19 are secured in place by means ofthe lock nuts 21 which are adapted to be seated in the recesses orenlarged holes 22.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, a longitudinally extended slot 23 isformed in the inner periphery of the body 1l) along the upper sidethereof. An elongated abutment member or stator 24 is seated in thelongitudinal slot 23 and extends from the inner face of the annular boss17 to the inner face of the annular boss 18. A gasket 25, made from anysuitable material, is mounted in the longitudinal slot 23 between theupper face of the abutment member 24 and the body 10. The abutmentmember or stator 24 is iixedly secured to the body 19 by means of aplurality of bolts 26 which extend through the body llt) and arethreadably mounted into the stator 2li. A suitable bolt seal 27 ismounted in a recess 2% around each of the bolts 26 to prevent anyleakage past the bolts. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, the stator 24 islixedly secured to the head member 1l by the retaining bolts 29 whichare provided with a suitable seal Sti around the outer ends thereof. Thestator 24 is secured to the head member 12 by means of the retainingscrews 3l which are each provided with a suitable seal as 32 around theouter ends thereof. It will be seen from the aforegoing description thatthe stator 24 is strongly and rigidly connected to the body member 10.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 5 and 6, the lower end of the stator 24 is providedwith a centrally disposed concavely shaped face 33. The lower end of thestator 24 on each side of the concave face 33 is tapered, as indicatedby the numerals 34 and 35, to provide abutment means for the rotormember, generally designated by the numeral 36, and which is more fullydescribed hereinafter. A centrally disposed longitudinally extendedgroove 37 is formed on the lower end of the stator 24 and extendsinwardly from the concave face 33. The stator 24 is provided withsimilar centrally disposed radial grooves on each end face thereof, asindicated by the numerals 38 and 39. The end grooves 38 and 39communicate with the longitudinal groove 37. A U-Shaped seal member,generally designated by the numeral 40, is adapted to be operativelymounted in the grooves 37, 3S and 39. The seal member 40 comprises thelongitudinally extended bight portion 41 which is adapted to be seatedin the longitudinal groove 37 and the two radially extended leg portions42 and 43 which are adapted to be seated in the grooves 38 and 39,respectively. The seal bight portion 41 is integral with the legportions 42 and 43.

As shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 9 and l0, the U-shaped seal member 40 issubstantially rectangular in cross-section, and is provided withlongitudinally extended grooves as 44 on all four sides of the bightportion 41 and also on all four sides and on the upper end of each ofthe leg portions 42 and 43. The grooves 44 are preferably concave incross-section as, for example, on one model the grooves were formed on aradius of approximately .065 inch and were formed to a depth ofapproximately .O18 inch for a seal of an overall thickness ofapproximately .105 inch. The corners of the seal 49, indicated by thenumeral 45, are preferably formed so as to provide a sharp corner with aradius thereon no greater than .OC3 inch. The U-shaped seal member 49 ispreferably made from a molded sealing material known as Buna N 70Duro-Moly which is readily available on the market. The edge corners 46are preferably rounded within a maximum radius of .O18 inch.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 5, a tube tting 47 is adapted to pass throughthe body 19 and to be threadably mounted into the hole 4S in the upperside of the stator Z4. A suitable tube fitting seal 49 is disposedaround the tube tting 47 to prevent leakage thereby. A port 5G is formedin the lower side of the stator 24 and is adapted to providecommunication between the hole 48 and the interior of the body member10. As shown in FlGS. 2 and 6, a second tube fitting 51 is adapted topass through a suitable hole in the body 10 and to be threadably mountedin the hole 52 in the upper side of the stator 24. A suitable tubefitting seal 53 is provided around the upper end of the tube fitting 51to prevent leakage thereby. A second port 54 is formed in the stator 24and is adapted to connect the hole 52 with the inside of the body 10.

As shown in FIG. l, the tube fittings 47 and 51 are adapted to beoperatively connected to the tubes 55 and 56, respectively, which areconnected to a suitable conventional flow directional control valve 57.The control valve 57 is connected to the tube 58 which is connected to asuitable conventional fluid pump, as 59. The pump 59 is connected by afluid supply line 61 to a fluid reservoir 62. The pump 59 is adapted tobe driven by the usual motor 60. A fluid return tube 63 connects thecontrol valve 57 to the fluid reservoir 62.

As shown in FIGS. l, 2 and 6, a rotor member 36 is rotatably mountedinside the body 14B and comprises a shaft or rod 64 to which is fixedlyconnected a vane 65. The shaft 64 is adapted to abut the bight portion41 of the U-shaped seal 4t? and be in rotatory sealing engagementtherewith. The vane 65 is rigidly connected to the shaft 64 by weldingalong the upper side of the vane, as at the points marked 66, and alsoby means of the longitudinal lock key 67. As shown in FIGS. 2, and 6, acentrally disposed groove 68 is formed on the lower edge of the vane 65and this groove communicates With similar centrally disposed grooves 69and 70 which are formed in the end faces of the vane 65. A U-shaped sealmember, generally designated by the numeral 71, is adapted to be seatedin the grooves 68, 69 and 7i). The U-shaped seal member 71 comprises thelongitudinally extended bight portion 72 and the integral radiallyextended integral leg portions 73 and 74. The seal 71 is the same insize, shape and make as the seal 4t) which is carried on the stator 24.The seal 71 functions to provide an eflicient sealing engagement withthe inner face of the body 10.

The rotor shaft 64 is provided with the integral outwardly extendedoutput shafts 75 and 76 which are provided With the usual key slots 77and 78, respectively. As shown in FIG. 2, the output shafts 75 and 76are operatively journalled in the roller bearings 79 and 80,respectively, which are operatively mounted in stepped recesses in thehead members 11 and 12. The roller bearings 79 and 86 are retained inplace by the retainer plates 81 and S2, respectively, which arethreadably mounted in the head members 11 and 12. The retainer plates 81and 32 are provided on the outer face thereof with suitable Wrenchholes, as 33. A suitable bearing retaining seal, as 84 and S5, isoperatively mounted between each of the retainer plates 81 and 82,respectively, and the bearings 79 and Si), respectively. The retainingplates 81 and 82 are each provided With an outer shaft seal as 86 andS7, respectively, for preventing leakage along the output shafts 75 and76, respectively.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, an inner shaft seal member, generallydesignated as 88, is provided at each end of the rotor shaft 64. Asshown in FIG. 3, the seal members 8S are operatively mounted in astepped recess formed in the inner face of the annular bosses 17 and 18.The aforementioned stepped recess comprises an outer enlarged portion 89and an inner reduced portion 90. The seal member 88 comprises an annularmetal sleeve member, preferably formed from a suitable bearing metal asS.A.E. 660 Bronze. The output shafts 75 and 76 are rotatably mountedthrough the sleeve members 91. The edges of the inner periphery of thesleeve member 91 are chamfered, as indicated by the numerals 92 and 93.The outer corner of the outer periphery of the sleeve member 91 is alsochamfered, as indicated by the numeral 94. A second annular member 95 isconcentrically mounted around the approximately inner two-thirds of themetal sleeve member 91. The member 95 is preferably mounted on themember 91 with a press fit. The metal sleeve 91 is adapted to be seatedin the inner reduced portion 99 of the stepped recess in the bosses 17and 18 and the seal member 95 is adapted tobe seated in the outerenlarged portion of said stepped recess. The annular seal member 95 isadapted to be made from any suitable sealing material, and, preferablyis made from a sealing material available on the market and known asBuna N 70 Duro-Moly. The inner face 96 of each of the annular sealingmembers 95 is adapted to abut the shoulder 97 on each of he ends of therotor shaft 64. FIG. 3 shows the combination thrust bearing and sealingmember 88 in the free state before the head members 11 and 12 have beenfully secured in place. In thc free state the inner edge of the innerperiphery of each of the sealing members 95 is concavely chamfered andin one installation a chamfer radius of approximately .065 inch wasfound to be preferable. In the free state, the inner edge of the sealingmember 95 extends inwardly beyond the inner edge of the metal sleevemember 91 for a slight distance as, for example, in one installation itextended approximately .01() inch beyond the inner end of the metalsleeve member 91. A centrally disposed groove 99 is formed on the outerperiphery of the annular sealing member 95 and this groove is preferablyconcave in cross-section, and, in one installation it was found that aradius of .062 inch was preferable for forming this groove. The outerperipheral corner 100 is preferably rounded slightly as, for example, toa radius of approximately one sixty-fourth of an inch. The innerperipheral corner 101 is preferably formed to a sharp corner with nomore than a .003 of an inch radius. ln the operative state or condition,with the head members 11 and 12 secured in position, the sealing member95 is compressed in the recess 89, and the shoulders 97 on the shaft 64abut the inner ends of the metal sleeve 91, as shown in FIG. ll. Anyendwise thrust load is thus taken by the metal sleeves 91.

As shown in FIG. 2, each of the head members 11 and 12 are provided onthe upper sides thereof with a tube fitting hole 163 which communicateswith a drain passage 102 which extends down to the bearings 79 and 80and the inner shaft seal member 83. When the fluid motor of the presentinvention is being powered with a hydraulic oil, uid return tubes, as104, shown in FIG. 1, are connected to the tube fitting holes 103. Thetubes 104 are connected to a drain or return tube 105 which is connectedto the fluid reservoir 62. It will be seen that any leakage of hydraulicfluid past the inner shaft seals 88 is thus carriied back to the fluidreservoir 62. As shown in FIGS. l and 4, suitable threaded holes, as106, 107 and 108, may be formed in the side faces, and faces and bottomfaces, respectively, of the head members 11 and 12 for mounting thefluid motor on any suitable supporting means. The oscillating fluidmotor of the present invention may be powered by any suitable fluid, asfor example, air, water or a hydraulic fluid. The output shafts 75 and76 may be operatively connected to any object which is to be turnedthrough a portion of a revolution for operations such as lifting,rolling over, dumping, tumbling, agitating and so forth. Assuming thatthe vane 65 is at a starting point in an abutting position against thetapered face 35, on the lower end of the stator 24, the motor may be putinto operation by operating the control valve 57 to admit Huid underpressure from the line 5S into the line 55 and through the fitting 47,hole 48 and port 5t), and into the body 10. The pressurized fluid willoperate against the vane 65 so as to rotate it counter-clockwise, asviewed in FIG. 5. The vane 65 will rotate until it engages the taperedface 34 on the other side of the stator 24. The travel are through whichthe vane 65 moves is approximately equal to 280. The vane 65 may bereversed and rotated back to its starting position against the taperedface 35 by operating the directional control valve 57 so as to connectthe tube 55 with the return tube 63 and the pressurized fiuid supplyline 53 with the tube 56. Pressurized liuid will then pass through thetube fitting 51, as shown in FIG. 6, and through the hole 52 and port 54and into the body 10. The vane 65 will then be operated in the reverseor clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 5, and it will be moved backto its starting position against the tapered face 35. The directionalcontrol valve 57 may be of any suitable conventional type and may bemanually or automatically operated. It will be obvious that the controlvalve 57 may be operated at any time during the cycle or travel of thevane 65 so as to provide for rotation of the vane 65 through travel arcsshorter than the entire possible travel of 280. If desired, the rate oftravel of the vane 65 may be speeded up or slowed down by any suitableflow control means for obtaining such results.

it will be seen that the instant invention provides a novel and improvedoscillating fluid motor which contains few moving parts and which isself contained and provides a fully sealed construction. The novelU-shaped sealing members 40 and 71 provide an eicient sealing actionbetween the stator and rotor members and the body and head members, and,the shaft inner seals 88 provide a highly efficient shaft sealing means.The annular sealing members 95 function to produce a result heretoforenot achievable by the prior art fiuid motor shaft seals. The radialchambers 98 and the peripheral grooves 99 permit the sealing members 95to be compressed in the recesses 89 without undue adverse jammingeffects, whereby, as the sealing members 95 wear they will iiow out ofthe recesses 89. An effective and efficient sealing contact is thusconstantly maintained between the inner face 96 of each of the sealingmembers 95 and the adjacent shoulder 97 on shaft 64.

When the fluid motor is powered by pressurized air, the return lines 104and 105 are removed and suitable grease fittings are mounted in theholes 103 for the purpose of lubricating the bearings 79 and 80. Thesealing material Buna N 70 Duro-Moly is sold by the Dow Chemical Co. ofMidland, Michigan.

While it will be apparent that the preferred embodiment of the inventionherein disclosed is well calculated to fulfill the objects above stated,it will be appreciated 5 that the invention s susceptible tomodification, variation and change without departing from the properscope or fair meaning of the subjoined claims.

What I claim is:

l. An oscillating fluid motor of the class described, comprising: ahollow cylindrical body; a head member fixedly mounted on each end ofsaid body for enclosing the same; a longitudinally extended slot formedin the inner surface of said cylindrical body; a radially disposedlongitudinal stator fixedly mounted in said slot and extending from onehead member to the other head member; a shaft in said body extendingaxially therethrough and being rotatably mounted in bearing membersmounted in said head members; a U-shaped seal mounted on said stator andadapted to engage said head members and said rotatable shaft; a radiallydisposed longitudinal vane fixedly mounted on said shaft and extendingfrom one head member to the other head member; a U-shaped seal mountedon said vane and adapted to engage said head members and the innersurface of said body; an output shaft connected to said shaft andextended outwardly of said body; a pair of annular shaft seal membersmounted in each of said head members on opposite sides of the shaftbearing member; one seal of each pair of said annular shaft seal membersbeing adapted to operatively engage a shoulder on said first named shaftand being provided with a peripheral groove and being carried on asleeve bearing which is adapted to operatively engage said first namedshaft; and, means for admitting fluid under pressure successively andselectively to alternate sides of said stator for actuating said vanethrough a reciprocatory cycle.

2. An oscillating fluid motor of the class described comprising: ahollow cylindrical body; a head member fixedly mounted on each end ofsaid body for enclosing the same; a longitudinally extended slot formedin the inner surface of said cylindrical body; a radially disposedlongitudinal stator fixedly mounted in said slot and extending from onehead member to the other head member; a shaft in said body extendingaxially therethrough and being rotatably mounted in bearing membersmounted in said head members; a U-shaped seal mounted on said stator andadapted to engage said head members and said rotatable shaft; laradially disposed longitudinal vane fixedly mounted on said shaft andextending from one head member to the other head member; a U-shaped sealmounted on said vane and adapted to engage said head members and theinner surface of said body; an output shaft connected to each end ofsaid shaft and extended outwardly of said body; a first shaft sealmember mounted in each of said members at a point outwardly of thebearing in each of the head members; a sleeve bearing mounted in arecess in the inner face of each of said head members and adapted tooperatively engage said first named shaft; a second shaft compressibleseal member carried on each of said sleeve bearings and mounted in arecess in the inner face of the respective head member; each of saidsecond compressible seal members, when in the free state, being adaptedto extend beyond the inner end of the sleeve member it is mounted on andbeing adapted to be compressed in its respective recess when in sealingoperation, whereby, as it wears it will flow out of its recess; and,means for admitting fluid under pressure successively and selectively toalternate sides of said stator for actuating said vane through areciprocatory cycle.

3. An oscillating fluid motor of the class described, comprising: ahollow cylindrical body; a head member fixedly mounted on each end ofsaid body for enclosing the same; a longitudinally extended slot formedin the inner surface of said cylindrical body; a radially disposedlongitudinal stator fixedly mounted in said slot and extending from onehead member to the other head member; a shaft in said body extendingaxially therethrough and being rotatably mounted in bearing membersmounted in said head members; a U-shaped seal mounted on said stator andadapted to engage said head members and said rotatable shaft; a radiallydisposed longitudinal vane iixedly mounted on said shaft and extendingfrom one head member to the other head member; a U-shaped seal mountedon said vane and adapted to engage said head members and the innersurface of said body; an output shaft connected to said shaft andextended outwardly of said body; a pair of annular shaft seal membersmounted in each of said head members on opposite sides of the shaftbearing member; one seal of each of said pair of annular shaft sealmembers being adapted to operatively abut a shoulder on said first namedshaft and being provided with a peripheral groove and a radial chamferon the inner edge of the inner periphery there- References Cited in thele of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,701,448 Johnson Feb. 8, 19552,735,406 Britton Feb. 2l, 1956 2,793,623 Ludwig et al May 28, 19572,795,212 Shafer June 1l, 1957 2,825,307 Enyeart et al. Mar. 4, 19582,873,132 Tanner Feb. l0, 1959 2,902,009 Ludwig et al. Sept. l, 1959

1. AN OSCILLATING FLUID MOTOR OF THE CLASS DESCRIBED, COMPRISING: AHOLLOW CYLINDRICAL BODY; A HEAD MEMBER FIXEDLY MOUNTED ON EACH END OFSAID BODY FOR ENCLOSING THE SAME; A LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDED SLOT FORMEDIN THE INNER SURFACE OF SAID CYLINDRICAL BODY; A RADIALLY DISPOSEDLONGITUDINAL STATOR FIXEDLY MOUNTED IN SAID SLOT AND EXTENDING FROM ONEHEAD MEMBER TO THE OTHER HEAD MEMBER; A SHAFT IN SAID BODY EXTENDINGAXIALLY THERETHROUGH AND BEING ROTATABLY MOUNTED IN BEARING MEMBERSMOUNTED IN SAID HEAD MEMBERS; A U-SHAPED SEAL MOUNTED ON SAID STATOR ANDADAPTED TO ENGAGE SAID HEAD MEMBERS AND SAID ROTATABLE SHAFT; A RADIALLYDISPOSED LONGITUDINAL VANE FIXEDLY MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT AND EXTENDINGFROM ONE HEAD MEMBER TO THE OTHER HEAD MEMBER; A U-SHAPED SEAL MOUNTEDON SAID VANE AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE SAID HEAD MEMBERS AND THE INNERSURFACE OF SAID BODY; AN OUTPUT SHAFT CONNECTED TO SAID SHAFT ANDEXTENDED OUTWARDLY OF SAID BODY; A PAIR OF ANNULAR SHAFT SEAL MEMBERSMOUNTED IN EACH OF SAID HEAD MEMBERS ON OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE SHAFTBEARING MEMBER; ONE SEAL OF EACH PAIR OF SAID ANNULAR SHAFT SEAL MEMBERSBEING ADAPTED TO OPERATIVELY ENGAGE A SHOULDER ON SAID FIRST NAMED SHAFTAND BEING PROVIDED WITH A PERIPHERAL GROOVE AND BEING CARRIED ON ASLEEVE BEARING WHICH IS ADAPTED TO OPERATIVELY ENGAGE SAID FIRST NAMEDSHAFT; AND, MEANS FOR ADMITTING FLUID UNDER PRESSURE SUCCESSIVELY ANDSELECTIVELY TO ALTERNATE SIDES OF SAID STATOR FOR ACTUATING SAID VANETHROUGH A RECIPROCATORY CYCLE.